All about biotechnological research
One of my friends, a former community college student at the school at the same time I was working there, has decided to go into biotech research. She is tech-savvy and at the same time fascinated and good at working with the environment, and she hopes to make some important contributions to our area (Northern California). So what does it mean to do biotechnological research? What does it take to enter the field of biotechnology? And how much dough can you make?
Biotech research can involve anything in the life sciences, from “human health and disease computational mapping to crop and tree improvements,” since those studies are conducted by students at Michigan Tech’s Center for Biotechnology Research, from “forensic Medicine, [the] biotoxin testing and management of the nation’s organ transplant process” to “drug development, medical diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and environmental testing,” such as those conducted at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, or biogenetic engineering , agriculture or nutritional evaluation and from engineering to toxicology, biomedical engineering and imaging, or food, drug and environmental technologies, as carried out by the University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program (UC BREP) .
How much a person earns in biotech research depends on the funds that support biotech research facilities. At the Michigan Tech Biotechnology Research Center, for example, funding is $8.3 million, provided by organizations such as the US Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the United States Drug Administration (USDA). At the same time, according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, a biotechnology research engineer (like a biomedical engineer) earns an average of $48,503 with a bachelor’s degree and about $59,667 with a master’s degree. .
But will there be jobs in biotech research when you and my friend finish college? Well, again according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth projections in the field of biotech research in particular, but biotech engineering in general looks good through 2014, with growth “much faster than average.” This, BLS claims, will be attributed to an aging population, increased focus on health issues, and demand for “better medical biomedical engineers.” Due to increased interest in biotech research and biomedicine, more degrees are being awarded in these fields/areas…and hopefully, more grants will be awarded!